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Cloak and Dagger
Spying reached new levels during WWII...and inspired some really weird ideas. Mind Control Mental manipulators were a staple of fiction as early as the 1920s and there is no shortage of methods that can be employed with psionics, drugs, or hypnosis using methods that actually were attempted in the real world. Drugs Barbiturates: The German chemist Adolf von Bäyer synthesized barbituric acid in 1864. In 1904, a derivative compound, barbital (or Veronal) was prepared and its psychoactive effects recognized (barbituric acid has no such effects) but the famous “sodium pentothal” (aka truth serum) was not synthesized until 1939. LSD: While developed by the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman in 1938 its psychoactive effects were not discovered 1943 and a paper on those effects was not published 1947. LSD was one of the drugs used in the infamous US Project MKUltra and if its properties had been widely known during WWII odds are it would have been used by Allies and Axis powers alike. Awake at Dawn? This briefly touches on the conspiracy theory that the US knew about the planned attack on Pearl Harbor and let it happen. Note: While it is true that the Japanese Purple codes had been cracked that was a diplomatic communications cypher. The Japanese naval cyphers were totally different codes with JN-25 getting changed 1 December 1940 and again on 4 December 1941. Enough of JN-25 code was cracked to provide help at Midway in May 1942 but in 1941 perhaps 10% of JN-25 had been cracked. The Network's Secret War Cryptography, coadbreaking, and information gathering. Missing in Action Disappearances that have spawned conspiracy theories . Amelia Earhart: disappeared with co-pilot Fred Noonan, on July 3, 1937, near Howland Island in the Pacific. A popular theory is she was on a spy mission which formed the basis for the 1943 film Flight for Freedom. Ettore Majorana: one of Italy’s most brilliant nuclear theorists, boarded a boat from Naples to Palermo on March 26, 1938 and never disembarked. Antoine Saint-Exupery: The famous French aviator and author of The Little Prince, the famous children’s book about an extraterrestrial child wanderer from “Asteroid B612,” disappeared on a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean on July 31, 1944. Glenn Miller: The American big-band leader took off on Dec. 15, 1944, on a cross-Channel flight to Paris but never arrived. Opus Dei Founded in 1928 this educational and spiritual organization tasked with giving guidance to lay Catholics served as an information gathering tool for the Allies and helped secure Vatican influence in the post war world. The Mafia's War The Office of Naval Intelligence used the Mafia to seek out German spies capturing 8 in “Operation Underworld”. In 1943 the Mafia provided vital information regarding Sicily allowing Patton to march across hundreds of miles of booby-trapped, sniper-infested terrain in just four days. Prieuré de Sion If the Prieuré de Sion had really existed and been in the 1940s alliances in WWII could have gotten really weird. Teutonic Knights Officially constituted as a military religious order in 1199, the Teutonic Knights amassed property and wealth throughout Europe but the rise of Lutheranism, diminished the order’s political influence and in 1809 Napoleon confiscated the knights’ commanderies and “destroyed” the order. The order was reconstituted in Austria in 1839 as a caregiving organization but were "divested" and "dissolved" the order in Austria and Czechoslovakia in the wake of Nazi conquest. This didn't prevent the Nazis from co-opting and modifing the Teutonic Knights’ codes and rituals for the SS. Rat and Spider The more far sighted Nazis had back up plan after back up plan for their continued survival. Operation Paperclip The technological achievements of Nazi scientist were too good not to use so President Truman authorized Operation Paperclip in 1946 to bring German scientists to the states. Truman's order to forbid entry to former party members or vocal supporters of Hitler’s regime was quickly neutered by State Department and Allen Dulles who expunged the records of top Nazi scientists and rewrote their dossiers. Operation Sunrise A series of secret negotiations from February to May 1945 between representatives of Nazi Germany and the Western Allies of World War II to arrange a local surrender of German forces in northern Italy. This may not have been just to prevent needless casualties but an effort to make use of all the intelligence the Nazis had gained in their fight against Communism. Die Spinne , and ODESSA Escape was one thing but one still needed a support network and the allies weren't going to give everyone amnesty especially if they had been directly involved in the Final Solution. The existence for either these organizations is debated though there are signs that something similar may have had a hand in Nazis escaping justice. Fourth Reich The idea that Nazis not only had escaped to South America or were, somehow, hiding in plane sight amassing resources to finally realize Hitler’s dark dream. This idea was bolstered by by the revelation that former mass murderers were ensconced in leading positions in West Germany. Nazi Loot and Influence The Nazi looted as much wealth as they could get their hands. The monetary wealth from German Jews alone is thought to be hidden in Swiss bank accounts and estimated at $5 billion. Some of the wealth stolen by the Nazis (such as the famous Amber Room) simply disappeared. Some Nazis also gained major influence in the post war world. For example, Reinhard Gehlen, leader of Nazi intelligence on the Eastern Front put his entire network of files, SS officers, sympathizers, and Nazi fugitives at the service of Uncle Sam. It has been often stated (but not proved) that this network was woven into the CIA. In Assentia Some high ranking Nazis did or where thought to have escaped. Martin Bormann: Hitler's formal successor to the Nazi Party. Long thought to have escaped and used in fiction as the leader of a possible Fourth Reich his remains were found 7 December 1972. Based on several autopsies and eyewitnesses it was determined he committed suicide 2 May 1945. Heinrich Müller: The Gestapo chief was paranoid about his safety as early as 1942. Assisted by Bishop Alois Hudal he helped 50,000 Nazis out of the Allied zones before disappearing himself. He was last seen in the 1 May 1945 though reports of him being seen in Argentina have surfaced. Josef Mengele: called the Angel of Death, the infamous director of Auschwitz’s medical experiments used his family fortune (as heir to the international Mengele farm-equipment conglomerate) to get to Argentina, later Paraguay, and finally Brazil. He died under the name "Wolfgang Gerhard" 7 February 1979 which was confirmed via DNA testing in 1992. Adolf Hitler: In addition to the escaped to Argentina idea (held by Stalin), there is the bring Hitler to the present time travel ideaThis was done in the Twilight Zone Magazine story "Alive and Well in..." where Hitler arrives 33 years later in South America falling asleep after drinking some refreshment as the voice of Jim Jones blares from a loud speaker above. and the use clones to make a new Hitler or having Saved Hitler's Brain his brain in a jar. References Weird War II 31-4`=` Category:Setting Concepts